Big-time government contractor Curlee Discaya briefly left his detention cell at the Senate for a medical examination due to a frozen shoulder but was immediately returned after undergoing an MRI scan, Senate President Tito Sotto confirmed Thursday.

“I was told [he underwent an] MRI for frozen shoulder because it was painful. He was only in and out [of the hospital],” Sotto told reporters partly in Filipino in a message.

Discaya had earlier sought Sotto’s approval to leave the Senate for a medical checkup, citing his alleged deteriorating health.

In a 28 February letter obtained by the Daily Tribune, Discaya said he has also been suffering from difficulty breathing, particularly at night, which he claimed causes pain and anxiety and has led to sleepless nights.

Discaya has been detained at the Senate since September after being cited in contempt by senators.

Lawmakers accused him of lying during hearings after he allegedly gave inconsistent statements regarding his wife, Sarah Discaya, who is also a government contractor.

Sarah skipped the Senate hearing into the alleged corruption scheme involving flood control projects, citing health issues. She is now detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Jail in Cebu on separate charges of graft and malversation of public funds.

The couple is under investigation as two of the contractors allegedly involved in a series of controversial flood control projects, some of which were found to be substandard or “ghost” projects.

Curlee earlier challenged his continued detention before a Pasay court, accusing the Senate of grave abuse of discretion and arguing that his indefinite detention was unlawful.

However, the court last month upheld the authority of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to detain resource persons who testify falsely or evasively during legislative inquiries.

The court ruled that Discaya’s conduct “falls squarely” within the grounds that justify the Senate’s exercise of its contempt power.

“His continued detention, therefore, rests on solid constitutional and jurisprudential ground,” the court said. “The integrity of legislative investigations depends fundamentally on the candor of resource persons.”

"A person who provides inconsistent or misleading information before a legislative committee — whatever his or her reasons — undermines the very inquiry that he or she purports to support,” it added.